Android TV on Pine64

After I pulled out the Pine64 and dusted it off, I went in search of a microSD reader to start the process of getting Android TV installed on the Pine64.   The instructions listed here are what I used to load the image to the card. -  Android TV Pine64

I did make one mistake which took a little bit to realize why it was not working.  I was getting side tracked with the kids wanting to go outside and play and did not realize the file that I downloaded was .gz file extension, all I saw was the .img.  So twenty minutes later after I finally looked at the file I was able to install the image onto the card.

Boot up was pretty simple, with one issue being the remote control that was purchased with the Pine64 does not have a keyboard.  I was setting up the Pine to use WIFI but I needed to put in the passphrase for the WIFI, but the onscreen keyboard was not showing up, no matter what buttons I was hitting on the remote.

Next stop Amazon for the Aerb 2.4G Mini Wireless Keyboard Mouse.  Arrived the next day, and I was back in business setting up the Android TV.  The setup was easy, video looked great (1080) and the sound was working.  The Android TV version is capable of 4K. but I don't own a TV that supports that.

The only app I have looked to install so far is Netflix which is not on the Google Play Store, going back to the forums they say to side load it, so that will be next on the agenda.  After that Amazon Videos would be good, and Plex or Kodi for my local storage.  Last but not least would be to install some games to try out the Air Mouse on Android TV.  

First Impressions: Pine64

I initially purchased the Pine64 to become an HTPC, sort of like a Roku, or Android TV.  The Kickstarter showed it to have grand plans and backing for builds of my different OS's.   The Pine64 was pretty easy to put together, and wifi was easy to attach.  What I was not expecting was the hassle of trying to type on the screen with the remote control.  The HTPC remote control that came with the Pine64 was horrible.  I wish they opted from the beginning to order the Air Mouse that they now have for sale.   The next hassle was getting an OS that would work on the Pine64, after much reading I noticed that there was an Android image available, but it was months old, and also on based on Android 5.1.  Now there is nothing entirely wrong with that, but considering this was a new piece of software I would have expected them to also be running the newest version of Android.  Even looking into the image, it did not seem like it was created by the Pine64 team (I could be wrong with this).  There were a few other images available for other OS's but I was really looking towards using Android.  Shield TV was out, and now my expectations of what I wanted the Pine64 to do were high.  I knew that it would not do everything the Shield does, or it would not be as powerful, but it was the baseline I was looking for in a set top box.   

I installed the Android image that was available and played around with it for a few days.  It was not easy to use with the default remote control,   It moved off into a drawer somewhere until recently I saw over on the Pine 64 forums that someone has tried another attempt at Android TV for the Pine64.   

Time to dust off the Pine64 and set out to try and get it up and running again this time with Android TV, just maybe ill have what I was looking for.